We write to say "thank you" to Terry Francona.*
While we can't say whether this conclusion to a disastrous season is good or bad for the Red Sox (we loved him as a manager, and that's saying a lot coming from our fickle self), we will miss him. He was intelligent, humorous, and steady, a key mix for surviving the Boston sports scene. He managed with a long view, and while at moments that would frustate us intensely (what fan doesn't manage every game by the pitch, out, and half-inning?!) his successes with the Red Sox were unprecedented in our lifetime, an essential contributor to moments of immeasurable joy. So we will miss him. We hope the Red Sox front office is as smart in hiring his successor as they were in hiring Francona in the first place. So good luck, Tito, and thanks.
* We will leave commentary on how this all seemed to have gone down until a later date.
9 replies on “Thanks”
As a YF, I won’t miss him one bit. He won two rings for that organization. That’s two too many. Francona was smart and classy with a cool temperament. I hope he gets a sweet gig with FOX these playoffs and lands a job that will pay him more than the Sox were going to.
And this just in.. Theo to Cubs?
Well that would stink, but if the Cubs want to make Theo their President and GM can the Sox really stop it without killing his morale and dedication? It would be a trap: refuse permission to talk about a potentially massive promotion and wreck his attitude or do the right thing and maybe lose him. Also, this was rumored at the ASB so not new news.
Lose-lose, either way. Unless you are one who thinks Theo isn’t very good and then you should look at this as the possibility of the Sox improving their GM! Bring on Cashman!
Let’s get Billy Beane!!!
Gosh I hope he really looks like Brad Pitt.
Theo should take the Cubs’ position and run. He’ll get paid better, get more responsibility, and have a truly historic chance to put the Cubbies over the top. He’d be dumb not to take the position. Let Lucky Larry dictate the job to someone else.
My, my, how quickly things change…
Wow, almost 70% of Sportsnation thinks Tito was more responsible for the two titles than Theo:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/fp/flashPollResultsState?sportIndex=mlb&pollId=123115
That’s amazing. Even in MA it’s 38:62 in favor of Tito.
So how would those who think Tito leaving along with Theo is an unmitigated disaster react if the mitigation is Billy Beane and a smart replacement for Francona?
Realizing this is hypothetical, how can we be certain this is all so hideously awful without knowing how things get resolved?
So if Theo leaves and we get Billy Beane we’d be talking about Oakland A’s “Moneyball” just with a shitload of money right???
Hey, here’s an idea, how about instead of about 95% (of 99%?) reliance on the Sabermetrics when going after players, they maybe go like 85% Saber numbers and the rest on mental makeup, character and leadership skill…just a thought.